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Sep 19 Mother of AC President Donates for New Pianos

A Lubbock-area entrepreneur recently donated $100,000 to help equip the Amarillo College Music Department with two new grand pianos.

Vickie Wilks Wisian, mother of college president Russell Lowery-Hart, donated the $100,000 Amarillo College Foundation for two new grand pianos from Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Company.

Wisian is a retired speech pathologist and special education director from Post, Texas. She and her late husband, Elroy, led an entrepreneurship endeavor in Lubbock.

In a statement, Wisian said that her love for her granddaughter led her to donate the money to Amarillo College.

"My son has obviously made it his life’s work, but it was actually my granddaughter’s interest in music that sparked my donation." Wisian said, "I wanted to do something related to music that might help my granddaughter or someone like her. It just seemed like the right thing to do."

The two new grand pianos are set to join AC's current fleet of 26 pianos.